UBS low profile hoist tower streamlines Tower

Low profile, high speed hoist system is enabling Carillion to dramatically improve efficiency and speed of elevating materials and personnel at Beetham Tower, Manchester

The low profile, high speed hoist system commissioned for the construction of Manchester's 171 metre 47 storey Beetham Tower, Manchester is enabling contractors Carillion to dramatically improve efficiency and speed of elevating materials and personnel to height with the minimum of disruption to the construction programme.

The aluminium common platform hoist tower system was developed by Universal Building Supply (UBS) to aid construction of the Canary Wharf Tower, the Swiss Re building at St Mary Axe and other high-rise developments in London's docklands.

This innovative system, concentrates multiple hoists into one common structure.

This means material and passenger hoists can be available simultaneously without taking up additional site space and contractors can maximise utilisation of mechanised materials handling systems.

As only the low profile tower is tied directly into the building, cladding can be applied to the whole building apart from the 4.5 metre opening.

Carillion's construction manager Jack Headland commented, "The biggest benefit of the UBS common tower is that it is such a neat arrangement that even running four hoists, it only requires one set of ties to the building".

"It reduces the number of cladding panels we have to leave off during construction, so it makes life so much simpler for us at the end of the day".

"It also confines loading activities to a much smaller area so it improves working efficiency".

"It has been a massive advantage to us on a large project like this".

The hoist systems installed by UBS uses high speed, high capacity Alimak rack and pinion hoists which has dramatically reduced time to hoist materials to and from height.

Each of the four hoists can lift up to 2800kg at 90 metres/minute which means that the Alimak hoist will take 1.9 minutes to travel the 171 metres from ground to level 47 compared to 6.1 minutes for a standard hoist travelling at 28 m/min.

Tony Faulkner, managing director of UBS added, "The savings in time that our hoist systems can achieve have long been recognised in the USA where we are regularly commissioned to install them on many of the high profile high rise construction projects".

"As well as the savings during operation, the UBS towers are far quicker to install and remove, so there are major savings at the start and end of the project as well".

"The Canary Wharf project really put us on the map in the UK.

With high rise developments becoming more common in city centres throughout Europe, major construction companies like Carillion have recognised the advantages in time saving and added value that the UBS systems can bring to these projects.

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